02/15/2024

Pandemic Law Taxing Work-from-home Ohioans Found Constitutional

The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the temporary law

When the spread of COVID-19 forced Ohioans to work from home, state legislators created a new way for cities to collect income taxes as workers temporarily made their homes their offices. The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed Wednesday that the temporary law was constitutional.

A Hamilton County man pushed back against House Bill 197, a comprehensive COVID-19 relief bill passed by the General Assembly in 2020, part of which said despite the fact that workers were working from home, for tax purposes, they could be taxed based on the location of the employer, not their home.

Josh Schaad, whose financial services offices are in downtown Cincinnati, worked in his home of Blue Ash once the pandemic set in. He said he returned to the office "several days a week" in November 2020; in January 2021, he applied for a municipal income tax refund for the days he worked outside of city limits for the previous tax year.

Please select this link to read the complete article from the Ohio Capital Journal.